Open Always Better in a Shadowy Place

[Krisa]

Krisa found herself letting go of fear. As they climbed higher and higher she began to laugh with glee. Everything was absolute bliss. Nothing was wrong, because all her troubles were left behind on the far away ground below them. She could no longer hear their eager nagging. No, this was nothing but happiness. Krisa, watched as still they climbed. They climbed until she was sure she could see the whole world. She was lost for words. There was no way Krisa had the capacity to dream up such beauty. This was all the vivid imagination of Lavira.

“And how very small we are” Krisa said in response to the eagles words in her head. And how right that was. Of all the people, the places, the cultures, Krisa made up only a minute blip of an existence. Among so many other faces, what was Krisa?

Where to now, Krisa?

This question stopped her thoughts “Where to… where to” She had given Krisa the choice? She did not know enough of the world to make that choice. Then she thought of someone in particular. A half inarten by the name of Turrin. He was also half Myrian. “I want to see… the people who live in that forest. The Myrian’s, and their giant tigers.” She told the eagle. “I have only been told about it… so I do not know if I can dream about it.” She said, unsure. “I want to travel to so many places when I’m strong enough, and when I earn the miza… I want to make the most of my freedom.”

She laughed again “I can’t quite imagine me on the road by myself either… but I made it from Wind Reach to Lhavit in one piece, How hard can it all be, and it must be worth it!” This was what happened when she got so caught up in one emotion. It became unbearably strong.

[Lavira]

While the other girl thought about where they might go, the eagle-woman flapped and circled lazily over the world beneath them, Kalea's miles high peaks glinting in the starlight while clouds flirted with their faces midway up. The weight of the world and all her troubles seemed small from this distance, just as they must seem, caught up in the swirl of events that kept Mizahar and its miniscule pockets of life spinning in existence.

When at last Krisa had decided, she would feel the eagles eye upon her as Vira turned her head to look back at the Inartan, wings holding their pattern and tail continuing to guide her. She wished to go to Falyndar? There was a reason the gingers did not visit there during trade periods! The residents of the jungles were inhospitable in the worst sense, unwelcoming to the massive birds and their riders. The one and only attempt at alliance had ended in a blood bath with the eagle which had briefly landed in the treetops nearly losing its own life in the ferocity of the myrian dwellers. The dhani were less of a threat to them, but the tenacious savages of Myri were a completely different matter.

Vira knew of only one Myrian, and he was but a half blood himself. Turrin was a strange man, in her eyes, his nuances odd and alien to the red heads of Wind Reach. It was as though the cannibal in him had been suppressed by his Inartan side and his over abundant passion had been suppressed by the ruthless myrian side. They practically cancelled each other out given how noble he came off as. It was really very opposite of what both races represented. Thinking of Turrin made her think of a Syliran knight rather than an Inartan Endal.

Nonetheless, the urging of her rider brought the bird around and with barely a thought towards it, the jungles rose up to meet them. But what Vira saw and what Krisa saw were sure to be drastically different. To Vira, the lush greens and high humidity and heat of Falyndar was a dark and mysterious land. She did not know about the animals that existed there, only the people told to her and read of in legends and stories, alien things to be handled with extreme caution. The only thing the Inartans even respected of the Myrian way was their serve or die attitude. In a land of inhospitability, it simply made sense. Myrians just took it to a more extreme level than Inartans did.

The giant wings of the bird swept over the tops of the tree, sometimes snapping those which extended too high. She looked down upon the wilderness beneath her with a weary eye, imaginings of monsters unknown; ferocious cats and killer ixam; giant ants that would nibble away your body while you were still alive. So while she flew, she chose to speak to Krisa.

Freedom? Did you not feel free in Wind Reach? I could never see myself abandoning my home. We all need each other to live. It's a dangerous land and without one another...well, we would all perish. We sit upon a precarious edge, a median between life and death where the weights upon deaths side grow heavier day by day and those that leave imbalance the scale, tipping us even more to the side of death. It is a very fragile system, ironically...

[Krisa]

“Abandonment… Yes I thought about that when I left… but to me, Wind Reach contained nothing but bad memories… bad being an unforgivable understatement... More than half my life was spent in servitude to those of a higher caste. I was beaten, half starved both of food and sleep… And things that were much worse… Things that have scarred both my body and my mind…” Her eyes glazed over as she skipped past her worst memories. The day she had her virginity forcibly taken from her by a violent and cruel man. The day the one person who had brought her true happiness had perished “There was nothing left for me to hold onto there… Wind Reach never needed me. I was disposable.” She whispered “I’m not bitter about it, because I have found a calling that gives my life some meaning… but I do not miss Wind Reach… Just some of it’s faces.” She smiled “But You are important, and your calling is in Wind Reach as an endal. I’m sure… if you left… you would be missed by many.”

She looked down sadly into the eagle’s feathers “I felt free and strong once. But that was all thanks to someone I loved who gave me another chance. It was when she died that I left. Think badly of me if you want, but I could never change that decision.”

The tree’s came into view. They looked dark, and mysterious. Krisa knew she’d never go there alone. She wasn’t suicidal just yet, though she had been plenty of times in the past. “The world interests me… maybe because I am not interesting myself…” The Myrians were violent savages, she’d heard that… but perhaps there was more to them. The favored females over men. Perhaps that what had sparked her interest. Having personal hatred for all cruel men like her attacker, and suspicion for all the rest, she couldn’t help but find that satisfying. She knew it was wrong, but her mind was fragile, and her suffering, mentally, had been great.

All the life that must grow in the jungle. So many species, so many plants, all with different properties. Her naivety of the world probably made her seem stupid, but Krisa was well aware of the negatives. Brutal cannibles with a passion for war. Krisa wondered what it would be like to be as strong as a Myrian… “Why don’t you choose next, Lavira.” She would suggest once they had swooped over the trees for long enough

[Lavira]

Vira continued to listen in relative silence as they flew over the tangled web of trees. Beyond the jungles, everything grew hazy. That was a world that Vira did not know and therefore could not imagine. The map of the 'dream' world faded away into a foggy mist and before long, the massive bird was climbing on the thermals once more, restoring the world to the height from a birds eye view, and then some.

At this point in the flight, the bird tilted her head back again to peer at her, her speech coming in that telepathic way once more. Yes, I agree I would be missed and I would greatly miss them, too. As for my importance, that would be debatable. I am just one among many and still somewhere near the bottom. Wind Reach is a hard place to thrive in, but sometimes it just needs the right spark to start the blaze towards triumph. If you can get that spark, who knows where the winds will take you.

The bird gave a mighty cry, a shriek that echoed through the unfelt atmosphere. They were so high up that there should have been no way they were still alive; and yet they were. The captivation of imagination was amazing like that. When the girl mentioned her interest in the world and the fact that she found herself uninteresting, the eagle-woman laughed flexing the crest of feathers against her skull into a blazing mane.

Krisa, 'interesting' is a relative term. What you find mundane or uninteresting in yourself others may find enchanting or exhilirating. Me? I'm pretty boring; it took my sister three times to get me to understand a joke one time. You will only become uninteresting if you make yourself so. Be who you want to be; Wind Reach challenges us to do that!

The eagle suddenly twisted upwards and back around in an alley-oop before going into another intense dive that really put the forces on the pair. It makes you choose! Do you have the will to thrive and not just live? Or will you choose to be forgotten! Before them, the waters of Storm Sea came rushing up to meet them hard and fast, its white peaked waves pulled constantly skyward by unseen forces. They were sure to strike the waters with lethal impact. It sent the heart into a thundering gallop and froze the breath in the lungs. The eagle-woman screeched again, her mind pressing upon the girls as she related where it was she wanted to go.

There is only one thing in all of Kalea that I long to see...

A mere tick before they struck the water, the world around them exploded in feathers and laughter. It was her own laughter and the feathers were white instead of gold, red, and brown. They had landed upon a down filled bed, the pillows having been thrown all around the room until only one remained on the bed. It, and the bed, were occupied by Vira and a man with olive skin and slanted, pine forest green eyes. Both man and woman were nude, and they were both wrapped in the others arms and bodies, comforted by each others warm embrace. The fiery mane of red and orange spilled across the bed behind her, the two figures kept decent only because of their proximity to one another.

Though the woman was marred, there was no judgment seen in the eyes of the man as was so often the case with men of Wind Reach. There was only love and unbridled passion for life. For a moment the dream-man and Vira shared a kiss, sweet and loving, before the young woman rolled out of his arms and sat up, resting on her left hip with one hand on the bed and her other draped across her right thigh. "Life has a funny way of finding what you need most and bringing it to you. For you, freedom from the bonds of our world. For me..." The woman turned to look back at the man, his hand running up her back and over her hip. Hers was not a need for lust.

It was a need for love. To be loved and to have someone to love in return. That was who the figure was, her Kovac. "You don't have to be exceptional; you only have to be accepted." Vira turned back to the other, offering her a hand, palm up. "Why don't you join us?" The dream had taken a strange twist! But then how strange could that be when they had gone from cowering in Lhavit to one riding an eagle and the other being an eagle!

[Krisa]

They were back, looking out at the world in all it’s splendor, and the telepathic voice was in her head once more. “To thrive is to make others around you happy, and to be happy yourself. It does not matter where in the world you are… as long as you have that.” She replied “That you have found your calling in your home town means is something of a blessing. You are stronger than me, because I gave up on it for fear I may go back to the bottom.” Her voice was full of sadness “The spark you speak of I have found. I am a busker. All I want is for my audience to have their day brightened, for them to feel good. Everything I do, I do for my audience. Every note I sing. In that spotlight, I can thrive.” She sighed

“I just hope that I can bring joy to people. That makes me interesting enough.” She smiled sadly “So I work hard to perfect my technique. It may not be as important as what you do, but even if I can change one person’s day just a little bit, it’s important enough.”

Suddenly they were diving again. Krisa held on for dear life, sure they should be a fireball by now. Lavira wanted to show her something again, ‘the one thing in all of Kaela she longed to see… and it was her partner. Krisa felt an overwhelming burst of emotions all at once. Melancholy, fear, discomfort, grief. She turned away from the couple, only vaguely hearing what Vira said now. “No, No, No… it hurts” She muttered into her hands. She couldn’t see love. What she saw was very different. It was Lost love. It was grief. It was a naked man, way too close to her.

Her hands shook and her breath caught in her throat “Lem… I miss you. Lemma… I love you” She muttered to herself seemingly

“Krissie?”

Krisa looked up, head snapping around. Hands snaked around her and she fell into an embrace. “Oh Lemma… You’ve been gone so long…” She breathed, turning around in her arms, and weeping. Her lips brushed lightly against Lemma’s and she smiled and kissed her softly. The room they stood in was flooded with golden light as the sun began to rise through the window. The moment was so sweet, so wonderful, so calm and peaceful. Krisa wanted to make it last. “I’m so proud of you, Krissie.” Lem said softly into her ear “Are you happy?” Krisa laughed and sobbed at the same time “Yes… yes Lem. Kieran misses you too” She told her “Everyday I long for you Lem” She whispered. Lem laughed “I long for you too, though I’m always by your side, you can’t always see or hear me.” She began stroking Krisa’s hair like she used to “I’m always there, Krissie. Remember. I’ll love you forever.”

Then she was gone and Krisa was holding onto nothing but air. “N-No… NO!” She cried, falling to her knee’s, with her face buried into her hands. It wasn’t fair… Why did she have to die… she deserved to live. She deserved it more than Krisa did. “Love… I understand love, Lavira.” She said quietly, when she was done sobbing. “And I understand grief.”

[Lavira]

The sheer terror in the other womans eyes was enough to banish the offer, Vira withdrawing her hand woefully to hold against her chest instead, both her seeing and her blind eye shining with sympathy for the young woman.

It was clear she had been sorely wounded by something in her life, enough that the mere sight of a man sent her into waves of horror and pain. The thought troubled Vira as she watched her and the new form that had manifested in this most unusual dream. It was another woman, this one Krisa going to instead, one who offered the comfort and love the girl needed. This sight made the teen smile, her hands now falling into her lap to fold upon one another as she watched the stranger, this Lemmie or Lem console the ailing Krisa.

Then the visage was gone and with it the beautiful light, returning it to one of somber sensitivity. Vira approached 'Krissie' on her knees, waddling forward across the bedsheets until she was before the ailing lass. "I know grief too, Krissie." She tried the name, reaching out and gripping the gingers hand tightly. "The lust of body from another, the loss of yourself, abandonment in its rawest form." The room had darkened, taking on a physical form of what Vira spoke. She was no dreamwalker, but the powerful nightmares she suffered stemmed from her own emotions and fears.

"The pain of betrayal and seeing your friends rise beyond your reach to a point that even they forget you are below and choose to step upon instead of embrace. It's a tough thing to handle alone." Behind Vira, the man, the endal's Kovac, had disappeared, an empty bed, smoothed with sheets tucked in and pillows obsessively straightened left in his wake. "So many of us put on a mask. Some where one of false joy; others of anger. Sometimes they'll wear one of strength, hoping to convince themselves that their weaknesses do not exist. It's impossible to escape from the truth but we can always cover it up and tuck it in and name it something else."

Releasing Krisa's hand now, the young woman leaned forwards and wrapped her arms around her shoulders and neck, squeezing her tightly. "Someone much better than I once told me, 'There is no courage without fear." She said into the others neck. "I hope you'll find your courage, Krisa. You are too sweet to let grief and anger consume you."

[Krisa]

“It consumes my every thought. Because I had my virginity forcibly taken from me when I was still the shyke of Wind Reach, I can’t let a man get anywhere near me without my breath turning ragged and my heart speeding up.” She looked up at Vira “Lem was the one who saved me. She rescued me from the streets and let me stay in her home. Elevated me out of my caste. She gave me the second chance I could never give myself.” Krisa sighed deeply and stood up “But I’ll never let myself fall into misery and lose the will to live again. If I did that it would be like wasting the chance my Lemma gave me.” She straightened her shoulders and made herself smile to exemplify this.

“Here, I wanna show you what I do” She said softly. Suddenly they stood inside a cozy little bar known to Krisa as the scholars demise. Krisa and Vira sat on a table at the back watching a singer hype the crowd up with a lively and colourful song. Her cheeks were as red as her hair, but she grinned like this was the only place she wanted to be in the whole wide world. The crowd cheer and sung the song with her, clapping along to the beat the singer stomped with her foot. “That’s me” Krisa confirmed “And my trade. I’m an entertainer. It’s the only place that I can be confident and spirited.” She laughed “I still have songs written in Nari as well, but ironically, the only one I can remember is so… very sad.”

Even though it was so noisy, the pair didn’t have to raise their voices to hear one another. “I started out busking on the streets. And I still do.” The scene changed to an outside setting. The beautiful spyglass of Lhavit’s marketplace glistened with raindrops. Krisa watched herself playing her flute for the crowd, making damp, miserable people standing in the summer downpour smile and laugh, and throw mina in a top hat. Krisa watched herself perform for them all. She practically shined with confidence and happiness, on her stage of cobblestone. It was her place, her calling, and she had her late partner to thank for her finding it. “Music make’s everyone equals… And I want everyone to hear me play, and have their day brightened”

She looked back at Lavira “My past still stains me in so many ways, but it will never ruin me… because I will never ruin what was given to me."

[Lavira]

When their setting changed again, Vira was surprised to find that they had come to a bar, crowded with people and all of them watching a young woman entertaining the crowd with song. And they were eating it up. Krisa had blossomed into a beautiful creature through this, reminding her of Alori quite a bit. Her friend was a musician, as well, playing the guitar and singing at the Inclement; but Vira hated the place, and for good reason.

Seeing the girl enjoying herself like this was nice, but they were somewhere Vira mentally could not handle. Just like Krisa could not handle the jeering faces, the dark entrapment of something like a bar, a club, a cave... It set her heart to panic. There would be no enjoyment to be gained this time for a dark cloud fell over Vira as she sat beside the former Dek, her eyes wide and her heart thundering in her breast just as Krissie had at the mere sight of a man.

"Nnnghh..." She moaned around a leaden tongue, clenching her eyes shut, then, and her whole body just a shaking. "Not here not here not here not here." The cadence of her words coming swiftly as she tried to draw herself out of this hell that had been inadvertently created. "Not here not here not here not here." It was just a dream, a bad dream, and she would have to wake herself up from it. She had to. Seeing the Pit again would not help her any. "Not here not here not here."